Victor Bojinov national box office topper Heights won Best Balkan Film, while Rouzie Hassanova’s Radiogram received the Audience Award.The FIPRESCI Award and the Bulgarian Guild of Film Critics prize for Best Balkan Film went to Ilian Djevelekov’s Omnipresent.

“Four different and independent juries gave their main awards to Bulgarian films. Such a thing never happened in the 22 year history of the festival. It is an absolute precedent, proving that there is a real rise of the Bulgarian cinema in all its formats”, Stefan Kitanov, director of Sofia IFF, told FNE.

At the 15th edition of the Sofia Meetings (held from 15 to 18 March 2018) the Sofia-based Nu Boyana Studios awarded two projects instead of one: Nathalie Biancheri’s Wolf (Ireland) and Francois Nouguies’s The Trojan Crisis, produced by Bulgaria’s Agitprop. Each of them will receive services in the amount of 50,000 EUR and 5,000 EUR in cash. Cinelab Romania offered a new industry award consisting of 25,000 EUR in postproduction services, which went to Andrey Gryazev’s March.April.May (Russia).

FULL LIST OF WINNERS:

INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION:

Sofia City of Film Grand Prix:
3/4 (Bulgaria, Germany)
Directed by Ilian Metev
Produced by Chaconna Films
Coproduced by Sutor Kolonko  
Supported by the Bulgarian National Film Center, ZDF/ARTE, ZDF-Kleines Fernsehspiel, Film und Medienstiftung NRW and MEDIA Creative Europe

Jury Special Prize:
Genesis (Hungary)
Directed by Árpád Bogdán

Best Director Award:
Banu Sıvacı for The Pigeon (Turkey)

Special Mention for Best Director :
Mohsen Gharaei for Blockage (Iran)

Jameson Award for Best Bulgarian Short Film:
The Transfiguration (Bulgaria)
Directed by Stephan Ganoff    

Jameson Award Special Mention:
Shame (Bulgaria)
Directed by Petar Krumov
Produced by Klas Film
Coproduced by B2Y

Audience Award for Best Feature Film:
Radiogram (Bulgaria, Poland, Turkey)
Directed by Rouzie Hassanova
Produced by Menclips
Coproduced by Film Produkcja, Solis Film  
Supported by the Bulgarian National Film Center, the Polish Film Institute, MEDIA Creative Europe

Domaine Boyar Award for Best Balkan Film:
Heights (Bulgaria, Macedonia)
Directed by Victor Bojinov
Produced by Bulfilm, Serpentine, Bulgarian National Television, Nu Boyana
Coproduced by Dream Factory
Supported by the Bulgarian National Film Center, Eurimages

Best Balkan Film Special Mention:
Secret Ingredient (Macedonia, Greece)
Directed by Gjorce Stavreski
Produced by Fragment
Coproduced by Graal
Supported by the Macedonian Film Agency, the Greek Film Centre

Best Documentary:
Miniature for Piano (Bulgaria)
Directed by Eldora Traykova
Produced by ProFilm

Bulgarian Guild of Film Critics Best Balkan Film Award:
Omnipresent (Bulgaria)
Directed by Ilian Djevelekov
Produced by Miramar film
Supported by the Bulgarian National Film Center  

FIPRESCI Award:
Omnipresent (Bulgaria)
Directed by Ilian Djevelekov

Young Jury Award:
Genesis (Hungary)
Directed by Árpád Bogdán

Best Bulgarian Feature Film:
3/4 (Bulgaria, Germany)
Directed by Ilian Metev

Sofia Municipality Awards for Contribution to World Cinema:
Vassil Mihailov, actor (Bulgaria)
Abel Ferrara, director (USA)
Roman Balayan director (Ukraine)

SOFIA MEETINGS AWARDS:

Nu Boyana Film Studios Danny Lerner Award for Best Project:
(50,000 EUR in services and 5,000 EUR in cash)
Wolf (Ireland)
Directed by Nathalie Biancheri

Nu Boyana Film Studios Danny Lerner Award for Best Bulgarian Project:
(50,000 EUR in services and 5,000 EUR in cash)
The Trojan Crisis (Bulgaria)
Directed by Francois Nouguies
Produced by Agitprop

Cinelab Romania Award:
(25,000 EUR in postproduction services)
March. April. May (Russia)
Directed by Andrey Gryazev

Focusfox Studio (Hungary) Award:
(10,000 EUR in postproduction services)
Ja Sam Ana (Italy)
Directed by Ado Hasanovic

Young Producer Award of Yapimlab (Turkey):
Duo (Spain)
Directed by Meritxell Colell Aparicio

EastWest Filmdistribution Award:
The Crown of Creation (Hungary)
Directed by Laszlo Csuja, Anna Nemes

Mediterranean Film Institute Award:
(scholarship in MFI Script 2 Film Workshops)
Crissea IV (Romania)
Directed by Vladimir Dembinski
Produced by Libra Film Productions

Balkan Film Market Award for Best Project in the First Films First Competition Section:
(selection in the next Balkan Film Market edition)
Life Beats Reality (Romania)
Directed by Andreea Vălean
Produced by Amoidee

GoEAST AWARD for Best Pitching in the First Films First Competition Section:
(selection in the next East-West Talent Lab in the frames of the GoEAST FF)
Dajna (Albania, Germany)
Directed by Christos Netsos